Standings tighten as third day concludes at 2019 USBC Team Trials

LAS VEGAS - United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer John Janawicz of Winter Haven, Florida, has more than 15 years of experience at the USBC Team USA Trials and he does his homework when it comes to equipment and lane conditions.

The 46-year-old right-hander is hoping that combination will give him the advantage he needs to secure his ninth appearance on Team USA.

He's the men's overall leader after three days of competition at the Gold Coast Bowling Center, but instead of celebrating his early success, he headed straight from the lanes to the pro shop to prepare his equipment for Sunday's fourth round.

Janawicz has been consistent across the week's first three lane conditions, finishing ninth, second and tied for 39th place, respectively, to reach his field-topping 50 ranking points.

His 1,288 six-game performance Saturday on a high-scoring 45-foot oil pattern included one of the day's two 299 games and left him four points ahead of 16-year-old left-hander Solomon Salama, a two-time winner at the Junior Gold Championships presented by the Brands of Ebonite.

"The main thing is consistent days, more than anything else, and I've always felt that if you can keep yourself under 100 points, you're definitely going to be in the running," said Janawicz, who bowled his first USBC Team USA Trials in 1997. "A lot of it is just trying to be smart and being prepared. If you do things like look at the patterns, volume, lane surface and how people are playing, you can make decisions about where you need to be with equipment choices, a game plan and moves before you get out there."

Nick Pate of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, opened Saturday's third round with games of 278, 289 and 238 for an 805 series, and he ended the day with another 278 effort to land atop the daily standings with a 1,474 total, a 245.67 average.

The 2017 Team USA member surged eight spots into third place overall with 59 ranking points and is followed by longtime Junior Team USA member Wesley Low Jr. of Palmdale, California (63), and Zachary Mitchell of Farmington, Minnesota (65).

Tom Hankey of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, finished the day second with 1,427 and was followed by Sean Wilcox of Altamonte Springs, Florida (1,426), Andrew Dekowski of Linden, New Jersey (1,412), and Morgan Moore of Aurora, Colorado (1,393).

On the women's side Saturday, Taylor Davis of Burton, Michigan, rallied back from a 149 start to emerge as the daily leader with a 1,392 six-game total, a 232 average, on the 45-foot oil pattern.

Adel Wahner of Las Cruces, New Mexico, was close behind with 1,384 and followed by six-time Team USA member Josie Barnes of Nashville, Tennessee (1,373), and a pair of Team USA veterans, Erin McCarthy of Omaha, Nebraska, and Sydney Brummett of Wichita, Kansas, who tied for fourth place with 1,361.

Taylor Bulthuis of Coral Springs, Florida, was able to maintain her spot at the top of the overall standings, but a split in her final frame Saturday left her and Brummett, a two-time Team USA member, tied with 32 points.

Longtime Team USA member Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey, is third with 41 points, McCarthy is fourth with 48 points and Barnes is fifth with 49 points.

If Bulthuis is going to maintain her momentum for the final two days of the event, she knows she'll have to learn from her mistakes. That includes the things that led to a 159 finish to Friday's second round.

She'll also focus on keeping herself calm, which she does with notes on her shoes that remind her of the good things and that she needs to stay positive through each shot. Not looking around at what others are doing also will be key.

"The last couple of years have been pretty rough for me because even though I've bowled well, I haven't been able to make the team yet," Bulthuis said. "That makes me want it even more. It would mean the world to me. Getting that jacket is something I've been striving for and working toward for a long time."

The event's champions are determined by ranking points earned during the five rounds, contested on five different oil patterns. The leaders each day earn one ranking point, second place earns two, etc., with the lowest total of ranking points at the end of the week determining the winners.

Both champions earn automatic spots on Team USA and the chance to represent the United States at the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup.

Competition at the 2019 Team USA Trials resumes Sunday with squads at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern on 41 feet of oil. The record 152-player women's field will bowl in the morning, and the sold-out 175-player men's field will take the lanes in the afternoon.

Janawicz plans to be at the bowling center to see how the women attack the lanes, but he'll also rely on decades of competition and industry experience. Having thrown clutch shots countless times in the past also could give Janawicz an advantage down the stretch.

"Seeing these patterns and being wrong in the past is the kind of experience that will help me make the right choices and moves when I see them again," Janawicz said. "There really is a lot of phenomenal talent in this field, and I'm impressed with how developed they are in their late teens and early 20s compared to how I was, but I'm hoping the things I've seen over the years will be an advantage for me going forward."

The top four men and top four women at the 2019 Team USA Trials, based on ranking points, will earn automatic spots on Team USA, while two additional men and two additional women will be selected by the National Selection Committee from the pool of players that competed during the week at the Gold Coast Bowling Center.

The National Selection Committee also will select a maximum of five men and five women for the team based on submitted resumes. Those applicants must have been Team USA or Junior Team USA members within the last 10 years or among the top 25 in earnings during the 2018 PBA Tour season or top 25 in points during the 2018 PWBA Tour season.

After the final qualifying round at the Team Trials, the top three amateur men and top three amateur women will advance to a stepladder to determine the U.S. Amateur champions. Both winners will earn spots on Team USA.

If the U.S. Amateur champion already has earned a spot on the team, the spot will be awarded to the next-highest Team USA Trials qualifier based on ranking points.

To be eligible for this year's U.S. Amateur, a bowler must not hold or have held a professional membership (PBA or PWBA) in 2018. Also, anyone who has won a professional title (regional, national or senior) as a professional is not eligible to compete as an amateur.

For youth competitors, the top four boys and top four girls, based on ranking points, automatically will earn spots on Junior Team USA 2019. Two additional boys and two additional girls also will be selected by the National Selection Committee based on performances from either the 2019 Team USA Trials or 2018 Junior Gold Championships.

They will join the youth competitors who already earned their spots on Junior Team USA 2019 through qualifying at the 2018 Junior Gold Championships.

BOWL.com's BowlTV will provide wire-to-wire coverage of the events, including the announcement of Team USA and Junior Team USA 2019.